Tag Archives: read the Bible in a year Bible study

I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.

Leviticus 20:22-22:16

Following the rules God laid out in yesterday’s passage, in today’s passage God tells the Israelites that if they do not follow the rules He is giving them, the land itself will reject them. When a society lives with no moral compass, the land in which it lives will attack it in a manner similar to how a body’s immune system attacks an infection.
This is followed by a series of instructions for priests. These instructions describe who they may marry and gives guidelines for remaining ceremonially clean. It includes instructions as to who may eat of the priestly portion of sacrifices.

Mark 9:1-29

     Jesus went on a retreat to the top of a high mountain with only Peter, James and John. While there Jesus was transformed into a radiant figure. Elijah and Moses appeared and talked with Jesus. The disciples were so frightened and amazed that Peter suggested that they make shelters on the mountain top for Jesus, Elijah and Moses. A cloud then came down hiding the three from the disciples and a voice came out of the cloud telling the disciples that this was God’s Son and they should listen to Him. When the cloud lifted, Elijah and Moses were no longer with Jesus. As they descended from the mountaintop Jesus instructed the three disciples not to tell anyone about this experience until they saw Him risen from the dead. Peter, James and John followed His instruction, but spent considerable time trying to figure out what He meant by “rising from the dead.”
     We have all had mountaintop experiences where we wanted to do as Peter did and set up camp to stay there. Yet, just as in this case, we had to return to our daily lives. How often do we return from those experiences wondering what God meant by something we experienced there? Reading this passage today what struck me was this, what was Jesus discussing with Elijah and Moses? Wouldn’t that have been an interesting conversation to be privy to?
     When they returned to the other disciples, they saw them surrounded by a large crowd arguing with some teachers of the law. Jesus inquired what the debate was about. A man in the crowd spoke up, telling Jesus that he had brought his son to the disciples to have them drive a spirit out of the boy. The disciples were unable to help the boy. Jesus expressed disappointment at the lack of faith this demonstrated. He then asked that the boy be brought to Him. When the boy saw Jesus, he went into convulsions and fell to the ground. The father asked Jesus to heal His son, if He was able. Jesus told the father that anything is possible for a person who believes. To which the father cried out one of the great pleas of all time, “I do believe, help my unbelief.” Jesus then commanded the spirit to leave the boy and the boy was healed.
     This father’s cry is one which we all should echo. I know that I do. There are often times when I want to believe, and know that I should, that God can and will accomplish something, but some part of me deep down inside doubts. Those times when I say to God, “If it is Your will,” but mean, “If You can.” On those occasions, I try to remember and echo this father’s heartfelt cry, “I do believe, help my unbelief.” This passage is a reminder that, if we ask, God will give us everything we need, even the faith to ask for what we need. My prayer today, and every day, is that God give me the faith, not just to move mountains, but to transform the world, to do His will in every aspect of my life.

Psalm 43:1-5

Again in today’s psalm the psalmist tells us that the answer to depression is to turn to God, put our hopes in Him and praise Him. When we feel overwhelmed by life’s circumstances we should put our hope in God. We should trust that He will provide us with guidance. If we turn to Him for guidance, He will provide us with that guidance and show us the way out of our despair. Depression and despair are a failure of our faith. We all suffer from them from time to time. When we do, we must echo the father from today’s passage in Mark, “I do believe, help my unbelief.”

Proverbs 10:18

When I read this proverb in the New Living Translation, I had trouble understanding what it was getting at. As a result I looked at alternate translations. In the King James and the New International Version translations the sense is that lying to conceal hatred (either your own or that of someone else) makes one a fool. Lying to conceal hatred and spreading slanderous untruths about someone will lead to consequences that you will regret (even if you never make the connection between your lies and slander and the consequences).

Daily Bible Study

February 26, 2013 Bible Study — Longing For God Is the Answer To Depression

February 25, 2013 AttilaDimedici

Leviticus 19-20:21

Today’s passage contains a series of commands that God gave the people of Israel. Some of them are ones with which we are completely familiar:

“Do not steal.

Do not lie.

Do not deceive one another.

Others are less familiar, but just as important: Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.

Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.

Then there are a few that I do not quite understand (although I have theories about them): Do not mate different kinds of animals.

Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.

Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.

All in all we can learn a lot from the commands in this passage. Things that would yield a vast improvement in our society if they were taught today:Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them.

Mark 8:11-38

     Some Pharisees came and questioned Jesus’ teachings. They asked Him for a sign from Heaven to prove His authority. Jesus responded that He would not give them a sign (yet He continued to perform miracles until the end of His ministry). This passage reminds me of when atheists today ask for proof that God exists. They will rarely if ever tell you what constitutes “proof” and then reject any proof you present. I believe that was the sort of situation Jesus was presented with here. He had been performing miraculous healing and feeding large numbers of people with small amounts of food, but these Pharisees wanted some other sign. They wanted some sign that they could not reject, yet had rejected the miracles He had already performed.
     Jesus left that area with His disciples in a boat. The disciples forgot to bring food with them. While they were in the boat, Jesus warned them to beware the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. They thought He said this because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus then reminded them of the feeding of the five thousand and of the four thousand to show them that He was not talking about food. His comment about the yeast of the Pharisees is the other side of his parable about the Kingdom of God being like yeast. Someone can teach things that seem good but contain just a small bit of false teaching which will corrupt their entire message.
     Mark recounts a story about a blind man that Jesus healed. Jesus touched the man once and he was able to see, but not clearly. Jesus touched him again and his sight was fully restored. Sometimes that is how it is with us. We are touched by God and start to see how He works in us and the world, but our vision of His will is cloudy. If we seek to follow His vision, He will touch us again so that our understanding of His will becomes clear.
     Jesus asked His disciples who people thought He was and then who they thought He was. Peter said that Jesus was the Messiah. After this declaration, Jesus began to teach the disciples that He would die and be raised after three days. Peter, thinking Jesus was getting depressed, rebuked Him for thinking that way. Jesus told Peter that he was not seeing things from a godly perspective but rather from his own interests.
     Jesus tells His disciples that they must take up their cross and follow Him. This would have been a very serious statement to His disciples. One took up one’s cross when the Romans were taking one out to be crucified. Considering that it was not long after this that Jesus was crucified, the author would certainly have included the suffering Jesus was about to undergo in what he understood this to mean when he wrote “take up their cross and follow me.” Jesus went on that if we attempt to save our lives we will lose our souls, but if we are willing to lose our lives in His service, we will save our souls. He completes this teaching by saying that if we are ashamed of Him and His teaching in front of men, He will be ashamed of us before the Father on judgement day.

Psalm 42:1-11

Do I truly long for God? Do I seek with all that is in me to stand in His presence? When I seek God with all of my being, I overcome depression and am no longer downcast. When depression and fear rise within me, then I will put my trust in God. I will praise His name, the One who is my savior. God directs His love towards me and His song is within me. When I place Him at the center of my thoughts, depression flees from me and I experience joy. Others may look at my trials and ask “Where is your God?”, but I know that in His time He will make Himself known. I will put aside depression, seek God and praise Him.

Proverbs 10:17

Those who accept discipline and correction will improve their behavior and make their lives better. Those who refuse to listen to what others think they did wrong will constantly repeat the same mistakes.

Daily Bible Study

February 25, 2013 Bible Study — The Joy of Being Kind to the Poor

February 24, 2013 AttilaDimedici

Leviticus 16:29-18:30

     God tells Moses to instruct the people that they are to conduct all of their sacrifices at the Tabernacle, in the presence of the priests. The purpose of this law is to prevent the people from continuing to offer sacrifices to goat idols (the word translated as “idols” could also be translated as “demons”). God then repeats the command He gave to Noah after the flood, instructing the people of Israel not to eat any meat with the blood in it.
     The next portion gives a list of people with whom it is wrong to have sexual relations. That list includes the children and siblings of either of your parents. It then gives a list of women married to someone else that are forbidden as sexual partners, eventually, after listing various people whose wives are forbidden sexual partners, it makes it clear that any woman married to someone else is a forbidden sexual partner. The fact that it lists it this way makes it clear that there are no “special case” exceptions to the law against adultery. There are several other practices listed here as detestable. They include sexual relations between people and animals and sexual relations between two men. They, also, include sacrificing one’s children and marrying sisters while both are living. This last is interesting since Jacob, also named Israel, did that very thing.
     Some years back I read a column that suggested that these commands free us up by clearly channeling our sexual desires. The columnist suggested that our sex drive is such that without some clear guidelines as to acceptable sexual partners we will expend large amounts of mental energy on satisfying that drive, energy that could be better used in other areas. I think that the columnist made a good point, although I think there is more to these instructions than just that. Sex distorts human relationships, not necessarily in a bad way. My relationship with my wife is made better and stronger by our sexual intimacy. However, not all human relations should have a sexual element. By taking certain people off of the list of potential sexual partners, the commands in this section allow relationships and friendships to develop that do not contain the sexual element, something that is necessary for a healthy society (and something that is contributing to our society’s breakdown, since as time goes by there are fewer and fewer relationships that our society views as not having a sexual element).

Another picture on the morning after a snowfall

Mark 7:24-8:10

     Jesus left Galilee for a time and went into the region around Tyre (perhaps to get away from the crowds, since the writer made earlier references to Jesus attempting to withdraw with His disciples and being followed by the crowds). While there, He attempted to keep secret where He was staying. However, this was not possible. A woman from the area whose daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and begged Him to heal her daughter. Since she was a Gentile, Jesus told her that it was not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. This was a very nasty insult, Jesus basically said that she was a dog. Her response however was to accept the insult and tell Him that the dogs get to eat the scraps that fall to the floor. Jesus commends her for her answer and tells her that her daughter is healed (as indeed she was). We need to emulate this woman and acknowledge before God that we are sinful, evil creatures not worthy of His grace. But, we also need to recognize, as this woman did, that God has overwhelming love for us and wants to redeem us from our sin.
     After this Jesus returned to the region around the Sea of Galilee. While He was there some people brought a deaf man to Him requesting that He heal him. Jesus took the man aside and restored both his hearing and his ability to talk (although modern experience suggests that most of the man’s problem with speaking was a result of being unable to hear himself talk). Jesus instructed those who witnessed this not to tell anyone, but the more He asked people to keep His miracles quiet, the more they talked about them. This is another piece to the puzzle that has been bothering me lately, why don’t we see more miracles in the Church today? The answer is that all too often we in the Church are trumpeting these miracles. There is too much of an element of self-promotion in what little I do hear about miracles. I am not quite sure where I am going with this, but it is clear from the Gospel accounts that it was not Jesus or His disciples who spread the word about His miracles.
     Today’s passage concludes with the Feeding of the Four Thousand. A crowd had gathered to hear Jesus preach. After three days, Jesus called His disciples together, concerned that if He sent the crowd away hungry some of them would collapse on the way. Despite having witnessed the feeding of the five thousand not that long before, the disciples wanted to know where they could find enough food for this large of a crowd in such a remote place. Once again Jesus asked them how much food they had with them. When they told Him they had seven loaves, He had the crowd sit down on the ground, gave thanks, broke the bread and gave it to His disciples to distribute. Everyone ate and was satisfied. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of leftover food. Jesus then sent the crowd away and got into a boat with His disciples. How often are we like the disciples? How often do we wonder how we can possibly get through a situation we are in, a situation similar to one that God provided us miraculous deliverance from just a short time earlier? We are as slow on the uptake as the disciples (which is certainly to be expected).

Psalm 41:1-13

Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor!
The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble.
What more is there to say? I will strive to help those who are struggling, even when I am not sure how I am going to pay all of my bills. I have not been in a position where I wondered where my next meal was coming from, so I am not among those who are truly poor.

Proverbs 10:15-16

The godly use whatever wealth they acquire to enhance their lives (for example, by helping the poor), while the wicked squander their money on sin.

Daily Bible Study

February 24, 2013 Bible Study — What Comes Out Of Our Mouth Is More Important Than What Goes Into It

February 23, 2013 AttilaDimedici

Leviticus 15-16:28

The passage begins with a description of following good hygiene when it comes to dealing with the discharge of bodily fluid (whether that is bleeding, seepage from an injury, a woman’s menstrual period, or some other reason a person has a discharge of bodily fluid). It talks about washing carefully after touching someone who has such a discharge and it talks about ensuring that a person has fully healed after the discharge ceases. Overall, it seems to be good basic hygiene for this situation.
Next we have the instructions for the atonement sacrifices. Aaron was to take a bull and offer it up according to the instructions in this passage. That would be a sin offering for himself and his family. Then he is to take two goats from the community. One of them is to be sacrificed as a sin offering. The other is to be the scapegoat. After sacrificing the one goat as a sin offering Aaron is to place his hands on the head of the other goat, the scapegoat, and confess all of the wickedness and rebellion of the people of Israel. The scapegoat is to then be led into the wilderness and be released to carry their sins away from the children of Israel. There is great symbolism in this for separating ourselves from our sins.

Mark 7:1-23

     Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law confronted Jesus because His disciples did not follow their hand washing ritual before eating. Jesus responded by calling them hypocrites because they put greater emphasis on their traditions than they did on following the commands given by God. He gives an example of how their tradition allowed someone to get out of their obligation to care for their aging parents. Jesus points out that this is only one example among many.
     Jesus then spoke to the crowd, explaining to them that people are not defiled by what they consume. Rather, He said, they are defiled by what comes from within them. Jesus tells us that evil thoughts come out from our innermost being. It is those thoughts which defile us, not the food that we eat.
     I take two lessons from this passage. The first is that we should not allow our traditions get in the way of following God’s commands or caring for others. The second is that we are corrupted and defiled by what goes on inside of our minds and souls not by what happens around us.

Psalm 40:11-17

The psalmist continues to express his confidence that the Lord will answer his pleas when the time is right. He ends this psalm with a statement of humble patience:

But as for me, I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
you are my God, do not delay.
I will make that my motto. Without the Lord I am poor and needy and have nothing. He is my help and deliverer. All that I have comes from Him.

Proverbs 10:13-14

Those who are wise say things that enlighten their listeners, while the fool says things that make you want to beat them with a stick. The wise learn all that they can, while the fool is constantly talking about things of no consequence.

Daily Bible Study

February 23, 2013 Bible Study — Do Not Keep God’s Good News Hidden

February 22, 2013 AttilaDimedici

Leviticus 14:1-57

This passage contains instructions on how someone who has been cured of a serious skin disease should present an offering of thanksgiving and cleansing before returning to their normal life (including provisions for those who are poor). It then goes on to describe what to do if mildew appears in a house and how to determine if only part of the house needs to be replaced or if the entire house needs to be condemned.

Mark 6:30-56

     Jesus attempted to lead the disciples away from the crowds in order for them to get some rest. However, many recognized where they were going and rushed there ahead of them. When Jesus got off of the boat, He had compassion on the crowd which had gathered and began to teach them. Late in the day His disciples came to Him and said that He should send the people away so that they could go and buy themselves something to eat. Jesus told them that they should feed the crowd. The disciples replied that would take a lot of money, was Jesus telling them that they should spend that on feeding this crowd? Jesus then asked them to check how much food they had. They returned and told Him that they had five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus had the crowd sit down in groups. The people sat in groups of 50-100. Jesus then took the five loaves and two fish, gave thanks for them and passed them out to the disciples to be distributed among the people. Everyone ate and was satisfied. Afterwards the disciples gathered up twelve baskets of leftovers. Mark tells us that there were five thousand men in the crowd.
     It is interesting how reading through the Bible and writing about it changes what I see when I read passages such as this. In the past when I have read this passage what struck me was how wonderful a miracle this was that Jesus was able to feed a crowd of over five thousand people with just five loaves and two fish. And it is. Today what struck me was the idea that when we as a Church hold all day revival/outreach meetings we should make provision to feed the crowd that gathers. They did not do this all the time, so this is not something we should necessarily do all the time either. Thinking about it, my congregation does do this from time to time (we have all day meetings where provision is made in advance to feed everyone who is there).
     Jesus sent His disciples on ahead of Him across the lake, while He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Late in the night, the boat was in the middle of the lake with the wind blowing against the direction they were trying to go. Jesus walked out to them on the water. The disciples were terrified when they saw Jesus walking on the water because they thought He was a ghost. He told them not to be afraid and climbed into the boat with them. The wind immediately died down. The writer tells us that the disciples were amazed because they had not understood the meaning of the feeding of the five thousand.
     Today’s passage ends by telling us that when they made land people recognized Jesus and spread the word. People brought the sick on mats to wherever they heard Jesus was teaching. They begged Him to let the sick touch the hem of His cloak. Those who did so were healed. This story is amazing and raises the question, why don’t we have similar impact from our ministries? Is it because I am not being called to that sort of ministry, or is it because I lack the faith? Or is it a little of both?

Psalm 40:1-10

This is a wonderful psalm about waiting patiently for the Lord to act and trusting that in His time He will rescue us from our troubles. I will work on praising the Lord because I agree with the psalmist when he says of the Lord:

If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
I would never come to the end of them.
Nothing and no one can compare with God. He does not desire our offerings and our sacrifices. What do we have that does not come from Him? God desires that we do His will, that we do what is right (as a column I read earlier today points out, God desires that we do what is right, not because it is His will, but because it is the right thing to do). The psalmist concludes today’s passage with a statement I will strive to follow:
I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart;
I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power.
I have told everyone in the great assembly
of your unfailing love and faithfulness.

Proverbs 10:11-12

A good way to tell if you are truly serving the Lord is to examine what you say. If you say things for the purpose of helping people to make their lives better and more joyful, you are probably serving the Lord. On the other hand, if your words are chosen to mislead people and to hide your true purposes, you are acting in a wicked manner. No matter what you think your intentions are, if you feel that you need to mislead people in order to get them to go along with your plans your actions are evil.
Those who stir up controversy and conflict are promoters of hatred. Those who are acting from love do their best to smooth over disagreement and show the good in others, even those they disagree with.

Daily Bible Study

February 22, 2013 Bible Study — Take Nothing With You

February 21, 2013 AttilaDimedici

Leviticus 13:1-59

Today’s passage gives detailed instructions for diagnosing skin diseases in a society with limited ability to treat them. This is followed by instructions for determining if an item of clothing, leather or other fabric is contaminated. If the item is contaminated they were instructed to burn it completely.

Mark 6:1-29

     Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth. He preached in the Synagogue on the Sabbath. Initially, people were impressed by His teaching, but then they started to ask what made Him special. They knew His mother, His brothers and His sisters. As a result, they gave His message no credence. This meant that few came to Him for healing. As the saying goes, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” This passage is often seen as a warning to not dismiss a message from God just because we know the messengers background. That is a very good point to keep in mind, but how often do we overlook or dismiss lessons from Bible passages because we think we know what they say? I know that I sometimes do that. This blog has helped with that, when I have to come up with something to say about a passage that I think of as completely “mined” I have to read it through several times trying to see if there is anything there that hasn’t been said time and again (of course, I have to be careful not to read something into the passage that isn’t there as well).
     Jesus left Nazareth and traveled the region teaching in the various villages. He began sending the Twelve out in teams of two to preach the Gospel. They were to take no provisions with them. In each town they were to find a house that would welcome them and stay in that house until it was time to move on. They were to leave any town that did not welcome them and to symbolically shake the dust off of their feet as they left. They followed His instructions by going forth and preaching repentance. They cast out demons and healed many sick people by anointing them with oil. I read this today and saw that there are two lessons here for us. The first lesson is that when we are missionaries, we should trust God to provide our needs. Perhaps not in as extreme manner as Jesus instructed the Twelve here (although we should not automatically assume that is the case), but we should trust that if God is calling us to a ministry, He will provide for our needs. It is worth noting that the Twelve were sent into an area where they probably had contacts (they were preaching in Galilee, which was the region where they grew up and lived). The second lesson is for those of us who are not sent on missions, we need to provide for the needs of those who are sent by God to minister. This is especially true when those called by God come into the area where we live and work.
     Mark tells us that people were trying to figure out who Jesus was, some saying He was Elijah, some saying that he was another prophet. Herod, however, believed that He was John the Baptist resurrected. Herod had arrested John the Baptist and kept him in prison because John had been preaching that it was a sin for Herod to marry his brother’s wife. Herod’s wife wanted John executed but Herod was afraid of John. Besides which Herod liked listening to John preach. Finally, on his birthday Herod gave a feast for his high officials. At the feast, his wife’s daughter danced for him and his guests. Herod was so impressed by her dancing that he promised to give her anything she asked for. She consulted with her mother who told her to ask for John’s head on a platter. Herod was distressed by this, but he did not want to appear in front of his guests to not be a man of his word. So he gave orders for John to be executed and his head brought to his wife’s daughter.

Psalm 39:1-13

Let us refrain from complaining in front of unbelievers. We have but a short time on this planet to serve the Lord. I will put my hope in God, He will relieve me of my troubles. He will answer my prayers and give me help when all seems lost.

Proverbs 10:10

Those who give wrong-doers a pass cause trouble to escalate. Those who confront minor wrong-doing keep things from getting out of hand.

Daily Bible Study

February 21, 2013 Bible Study — Touch the Hem of His Cloak

February 20, 2013 AttilaDimedici

Leviticus 11-12:8

The passage gives an account of what types of animals may be eaten. It does not list out all of the animals that may be eaten. Rather it gives the characteristics that determine whether an animal may be eaten. In order to make clear what types of animals may and may not be eaten it gives examples of both and why they fall into the category they are in. The rules then go on to spell out what to do if a clean or unclean animal dies and touches containers (or clothing) made of various materials. Based on what we know today about food preparation and disease transmission, these rules make very good sense for a culture with the technologies that were available to the Israelites (and for many centuries after).
The passage goes on to describe the length of time a woman is ceremonially unclean after giving birth. This is the time that her husband cannot have sexual relations with her, she cannot prepare food for others or handle clothing or utensils that others will use. People have often used this passage about a woman being ceremonially unclean after childbirth as an example of a biblical law which mistreats women. However, this law actually enforces that a woman be given a period to rest after she gives birth. I am not sure why she is given longer when she gives birth to a daughter, perhaps to offset the greater social prestige of giving birth to a son.

Mark 5:21-43

     This passage is one that has an account of a healing inside of an account of another healing. It starts off telling us that the leader of a local synagogue, Jairus, came to Jesus and pleaded for Him to come and heal his daughter. Jesus accompanied Jairus along with a large crowd that pressed in on Jesus from all sides. In that crowd was a woman who had suffered bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal and had spent large sums of money on many doctors, but she only got worse. When she heard about Jesus and that He was coming nearby, she thought that if she could just touch the mere edge of His clothing she would be healed. She approached Jesus from behind in the crowd and touched His cloak. Immediately the bleeding stopped along with her other symptoms. Jesus turned around and asked who had touched Him. His disciples response was, “In this crowd, who can tell?” However Jesus was aware that someone had been healed so He continued to look around. When the women realized what had happened to her, she fell at His feet and told Him the entire story. Jesus responded to her story by telling her that her faith had healed her and to go in peace.
     This has always been a story that indicated the power and importance of faith to me. However, a year or two ago, when my wife was struggling with something, she would start to pray, “Just let me touch the hem of His cloak.” This opened up a new insight into this story for me and gave it greater meaning. The woman in this story did not feel that she needed Jesus’ full attention, she just wanted to be in the bare periphery of His presence, the merest touch of His cloak. Do I have similar faith that if I can merely touch the edge of God’s presence, my struggles will be resolved? Do I have the same desire to fight my way through the crowd so that I can experience just the very periphery of God’s presence? There is more to the story than just that. All the woman desired was just the merest touch of Jesus’ cloak, that was all she needed. But when she touched it and experienced His healing, that was not enough for Jesus. He wanted to know who she was and what her story was. It is the same with God, we may be satisfied with just the barest touch of His presence, but He is not. We often feel that God is too big and has more important things to deal with than our little problems. This story is about how Jesus made time for this woman. I will touch on more of that in a moment.
     As this interruption came to a conclusion, some people came from Jairus’ house and told him that his daughter was dead, there was no point in bothering Jesus anymore. The delay had cost him his daughter’s life. Except, Jesus didn’t see it that way. He told Jairus not to be afraid, just to have faith. Jesus allowed only Peter, James and John to accompany Him the rest of the way. When He got to the house, Jesus saw the commotion made by the people going into great show of mourning. Jesus asked them why they were making such a fuss? He told them that the girl was merely sleeping. They laughed at Him. They thought He was crazy. He made them all leave. Then He took the mother and father and the three disciples that were with Him in to where the girl lay. He called out to the girl and told her to get up. She did so. Jesus told the parents to not talk about it and to give the girl something to eat.
     Notice what happened here. Jesus was delayed and now it was too late, the girl had died. There was nothing more to be done. But that’s not the way it works with God. He does things in His own time and it is never too late as long as we have faith and patiently wait for His action. God may have more important things to deal with than our problems, but He has all the time He needs to deal with our problems and those more important problems. We also need to remember that we do not know which problems God thinks are more important. I am tempted to tell a story here to illustrate the point I am about to make, but the story is too long and takes too much explanation. The point is that we should never be afraid to “interrupt” God with our problems because He cherishes us bringing them to Him. And not just our problems, but our successes and joys. That is what Jesus meant when He said we should be like children. Think about how little children are constantly following their parents around and interrupting them with their joys and their sorrows. That is what God wants from us.

Psalm 38:1-22

The psalmist cries out to the Lord for rescue. He expresses how his troubles are more than he can bear. He calls on God because he is at the end of his strength and cannot go on. He acknowledges that his troubles are the result of his sins and confesses to God that he has failed to live according to God’s commands. He lays himself before God and begs for His forgiveness. The psalmist has faith that God will answer his plea and patiently awaits God action. I will strive to depend on God and wait for Him, even when I am desperate and nearing the end of my strength,

Another picture of Magrat — Another picture of magrat

Proverbs 10:8-9

Today’s proverb tells us that the wise accept commands, while the fool is busy talking about why they should or should not follow the instructions they have been given. The wise understand that there is a time for taking action and doing what those in charge instruct and a time for talking about why things are done the way they are. Those who want to debate every action, no matter how minor, before it is taken are foolish.
Those who have integrity walk in safety and do not need to fear their motives being revealed. Those who attempt to use indirection to get their way will, sooner or later, be caught out as people realize that their stated goals are not what they are truly striving for.

Daily Bible Study

February 20, 2013 Bible Study — The Kingdom of God Is Like a Growing Seed

February 19, 2013 AttilaDimedici

Leviticus 9:7-10:20

Once Aaron and his sons ordination was complete, Aaron offered sacrifices for the people. Aaron prepared the offering and placed it on the altar with the assistance of his sons. After Aaron had placed the portions on the altar that were to be burned, he and Moses went into the Most Holy portion of the Tabernacle. When they came back out they blessed the people once more and the glory of the Lord appeared before the people. Fire then blazed out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the sacrifices waiting on the altar. The people shouted for joy and worshiped the Lord.
Two of Aaron’s sons placed coals in their incense burner and put the incense on top of it. This was in violation of the commands God had given Moses on how the incense was to be burned before Him. As a result fire blazed forth from God’s presence and burned them to death. I do not fully understand why this happened here, but this is a story that, for me, brings home what the Bible means when it says that we should fear the Lord. These two men were insufficiently afraid of God, which led them to take a casual approach to following His commands. Because they failed to follow His commands closely tragedy struck and they died. We should strive to carefully follow the Lord’s commands in every aspect of our lives.

Mark 4:26-5:20

     In this passage Jesus tells two parables about the Kingdom of God. In both of them He compares it to a seed. The first parable compares it to a seed planted by a farmer. The farmer plants the seed in the ground and then it grows. It does not matter whether the farmer sleeps or is awake, the seed grows just the same. The farmer does not understand how the seed grows. All by itself the seed grows into a plant that bears fruit. The Kingdom of God works the same way. All we can do is plant the seed of the Word of God. The Holy Spirit will cause it to be watered and to grow into a strong and fruitful plant. In the second parable Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. The mustard seed is a very small see, yet it grows into a large plant. In the same way, small efforts on behalf of God often have impact far out of proportion to the initial action. Between these two parables there are many lessons for Christians today. The first lesson is to spread the Word of God far and wide without worrying about how or why it will grow. All too often we spend too much time in our churches trying to figure out how to make the Church grow. The first of these parables tells us not to worry about how. We are to faithfully spread the Word without worrying about being “relevant”. The Word of God is as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. We may not understand how, but according to Jesus, that’s not our responsibility. The other problem we have is that we think our group is too small to make a difference. Jesus tells us that if we faithfully follow God’s commands the results we witness will be out of all proportion with the size of the effort we make. I do not mean that this means that we should ignore whether or not something works, but the first question we should ask ourselves is, “What does God want us to do?” It is only when we are unclear as to the answer to that question that we should ask, “Well, what works?” I was going to write that we should never ask ourselves, “What difference can I make?” but that is not true. We should ask ourselves, “What difference can I make?” It’s just that we need to remember that the answer is never “None”. One person who is faithful to God’s call on their life can change the world. We may never see the difference we make, but if we faithfully follow God’s will for our lives that difference will be there none-the-less.
     In the early evening Jesus and His disciples started across the lake. As they crossed the lake a storm blew up and nearly swamped the boat. Meanwhile Jesus was sleeping in the stern of the boat. His disciples were terrified and could not understand how Jesus could sleep through the storm. They woke Him, He got up and rebuked the storm. It immediately became calm. Jesus then asked His disciples why they were so afraid, did they lack faith? How often do we become terrified when the storms of life arise? Do we recognize that Jesus is the One who calms the storms and there is no need to fear because He is right here with us? Or do we panic and try to control every little detail, afraid that He is sleeping? God is not sleeping, if we patiently wait for His time He will calm all of the storms that life throws at us.
     When they reached the other side of the lake, a man possessed by a evil spirits came down to meet Him. When Jesus commanded the spirits to comes out of the man, they begged Him to allow them to go into the pig herd nearby. Jesus gave them that permission and the spirits caused the pigs to rush into the lake and drown. Those tending the pigs went and told people in the surrounding area what had happened. When the people came to investigate, they discovered this notorious “crazy” man sitting there dressed and in his right mind. This terrified the people. When those who had been present told them the whole story they begged Jesus to leave the area. As Jesus left, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with Him. However, Jesus told him to stay with his own people and tell them what the Lord had done for him. The man went around the region and told people what Jesus had done for him and they were amazed.
     This story has several elements that I want to touch on. The first is the desire of the spirits to move into the pigs rather than be sent away from that area completely and Jesus allowing them to do so. Followed by the spirits causing the pigs to run into the lake and drown. The reason I want to touch on it is because there is something going on here that I do not understand. I can see some pieces of it. Pigs were unclean animals and the people of this area were herding them and using them as food. Another piece is that Jesus was more concerned with the well-being of people than He was with that of pigs. That’s it. There is more to the role of the pigs in the story than that, but I don’t know what it is. The other element to the story is one that I do see what is being got at. The man wants to follow Jesus, but Jesus tells him to go home and tell his story to the people around him. The man wants to join the “ministry” by becoming one of those following Jesus around. Jesus tells him that is not the role God has for him. His role is to return to his mundane life and share with the people he meets what God has done for him. It is human nature to want the glory of spending our lives in jobs where we obviously serve God, but most of us are called to serve God in other ways. We need to tell those we meet what God has done for us, so that they can be amazed by His love and grace.

Psalm 37:30-40

This psalm makes some great points. It tells us that the righteous speak wisdom and what is just. They do not stumble because they plant their feet on what is firm. The wicked attempt to ambush them, but God protects them. The wicked and ruthless may seem to prosper, but before long they disappear from history no more to be found. In the meantime, God looks out for the upright and protects them. The future belongs to the righteous. We do not need to plan how we will defeat the wicked. All we need to do is place our trust in the Lord and He will provide us with salvation and protection from the wicked. We may not see how God will bring us to victory, but if we follow His will all will be well for us.

Proverbs 10:6-7

This proverb fits right in with today’s psalm. It tells us that the righteous will be blessed in all that they do, while the wicked will use words to hide their evil intentions. The righteous will be remembered as people to be emulated and whose lives we all wish to live, while the lives of the wicked will be regarded as a fate to be avoided at all cost, if they are remembered at all.

Daily Bible Study

February 19, 2013 Bible Study — The Wicked Borrow and Never Repay

February 18, 2013 AttilaDimedici

Leviticus 7:28-9:6

God instructed the people of Israel that the breast and right thigh of their peace offerings were to be the portion of the priests. The passage then goes on to describe the actual ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests. The ordination occurred over a period of seven days. On the eighth day, Aaron and his sons took up the duties of the priesthood and began offering sacrifices for the children of Israel. On the first day he took up his office as high priest, Aaron was instructed to offer a sin offering and a burnt offering for himself and his sons. The people of Israel were instructed to bring a sin offering, a burnt offering and a peace offering. The animals for these sacrifices were brought to the Tent of Meeting and the entire community gathered before the Lord.
The people did not come one by one to make their offerings to make themselves right with God. They came as an entire community. Our relationship with God is both individual and communal. We must each personally enter into a relationship with God, but we do so as part of the community of God’s people.

Mark 3:31-4:25

     Today’s passage begins with a follow-up to yesterday’s passage. Yesterday, we were told that Jesus’ family set out to take charge of Him because they thought He had lost His mind. In today’s passage, His mother and His brothers arrive at the place He was teaching. He is in a house surrounded by a crowd. His mother and brothers send someone in to call Him out to them. When Jesus was told that His mother and brothers were outside, He rhetorically asks the crowd who His family is. He then indicates those seated around listening to Him and tells them that they are His mother and brothers and sisters, that those who do the will of God are His family. We still do not learn why His family decided to not take charge of Him.
     We have Mark’s version of the parable of the sower. Mark’s description of Jesus’ explanation of the parable is shorter than that given in Matthew, but much the same. First Jesus explains why He preaches in parables. Jesus taught in parables so that those listening who did not take the time to understand would hear what He said but be unable to comprehend what He was saying. I think He was talking about those who get caught up in creating a carefully spelled out set of rules about what Jesus’ teachings were. Jesus told stories that explained how we should live, rather than giving rules we should follow. We need to learn to live our lives so that they look like the stories Jesus told. There are not a set of rules we can follow and check off, “Yup, did that. Now I just need to do that and that and I’m golden.” Getting back to the parable of the sower, every time I read it I fear that I am in the third group. I always fear that I have gotten so caught up in my day-to-day life, going to work, paying the bills, etc, that I have failed to put proper emphasis on following and sharing God’s Word. That I have failed to produce the fruit that I am called to bear.
     The next parable Jesus tells is the parable of the lampstand. We do not light a lamp and put it under a bowl or a bed. Instead we put it on a stand so that its light may cover the greatest area possible. We should strive to do the same. We should strive that as many people as possible see our faith and know that we strive to follow the teachings of Jesus. That message is followed up with the next thing Jesus said. The measure we use to give will be used to give to us. If we have received few blessings from God, perhaps that is because we have not given much of God’s blessings to others (whether in material things or in spiritual things). I will strive to give more of God’s blessings to those around me.

Psalm 37:12-29

The psalmist tells us that the wicked become angry with the righteous and plot against them. But God merely laughs at the posturing of the wicked because He knows that their plans will turn against them. It is better to be righteous and have little than to be wealthy yet wicked because in time the wicked will face judgment for their wicked acts while the righteous will receive God’s commendation. The righteous will receive God’s protection and when disaster strikes, He will care for them.
There is a line in this psalm that I think applies to our current society, “The wicked borrow and never repay.” This is a strong indictment of our society. All too many in our society borrow without ever considering how they will repay the loan. They borrow money to purchase something and then borrow more money to pay the debt, constantly going from debt to more debt. The psalmist contrasts this with the righteous who he says are always generous and lend freely. The psalmist tells us that he was young and now he is old, but in all that time he has never seen God abandon the righteous. God will keep the godly safe forever.

Magrat spots something moving from the hood of the car

Proverbs 10:5

The proverb tells us that the wise youth harvests when the crops are ready for harvest and the one who chooses to let that time go by in sloth is a disgrace. We should spend the time to gather goods when we are in the prime of our life so that we have resources when our strength begins to fail.

Daily Bible Study

February 18, 2013 Bible Study — Patiently Wait For God

February 17, 2013 AttilaDimedici

Leviticus 6-7:27

Today’s passage contains instructions for various types of offerings to be offered before God. There are lessons to be learned from these instructions, but none that stand out to me today. The passage ends with the command that they are never to eat the fat of animals or their blood.

Mark 3:7-30

     Today’s passage tells us that when Jesus went down to the lake in Galilee to preach He instructed His disciples to have a boat ready, in case the crowd pressed into Him too heavily. Jesus had healed many. As a result those with diseases were always pressing in to get close to Him. Whenever those with impure spirits saw Jesus, the spirits caused them to fall down at His feet and proclaim that He was the Son of God. Jesus gave them strict orders not to repeat this to others.
     Jesus went up on the mountainside and called some of His followers to Him there. From that group Jesus appointed twelve to accompany Him and for Him to send out to preach. He also gave those twelve the power to cast out demons.
     At one point Jesus and His disciples entered a house and a crowd gathered. The crowd became so constant that Jesus and His disciples did not even have time to eat. When word got back to His family about this, some of them came to take charge of Him because they thought He had lost His mind (it is interesting to me that we never learn why they did not follow through). While this was happening some teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem began to claim that Jesus was able to cast out demons because He was possessed by the prince of demons. Jesus pointed out that it makes no sense to postulate that Satan was giving Him the power to cast out demons. What would Satan gain by casting out the demons that he had caused to possess people? Such an action by Satan could have no outcome except to weaken his control over people. Jesus then makes an interesting comment. He tells us that any sin we commit or slander we utter can be forgiven. Except for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.
     Jesus does not tell us what it means to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. However we can draw some conclusions from the context. The teachers of the law had just attributed Jesus casting out demons to Satan. Jesus was casting out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit, it seems to me that Jesus was saying that attributing that to Satan was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Jesus was telling us that when we attribute the clearly good actions of the Holy Spirit to evil causes and motives, we risk eternal damnation.

Psalm 37:1-11

The psalmist tells us that we should not worry about the wicked, nor envy those who appear to prosper by wrongdoing. They will only prosper for the short-term. If we trust in the Lord and do good, He will see that in the long-term we prosper. We are to patiently wait for God, we should not fret when those around us succeed by doing evil. If we remain meek and trust God, we will inherit the land. We must let go of our anger and wrath. If we hold onto them and worry about how others are succeeding through doing evil, we, also, will do evil. Instead we should be patient and meek and wait for God to move in His time.

Proverbs 10:3-4

God will provide for those who righteously server Him, while the wicked are always craving more. Laziness leads to poverty while hard work leads to prosperity.

Fact and Fantasy

Tag Archives: read the Bible in a year Bible study

February 27, 2012 Bible Study — I Believe, Help Me Overcome My Unbelief

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February 26, 2013 Bible Study — Longing For God Is the Answer To Depression

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February 25, 2013 Bible Study — The Joy of Being Kind to the Poor

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February 24, 2013 Bible Study — What Comes Out Of Our Mouth Is More Important Than What Goes Into It

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February 23, 2013 Bible Study — Do Not Keep God’s Good News Hidden

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February 22, 2013 Bible Study — Take Nothing With You

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February 21, 2013 Bible Study — Touch the Hem of His Cloak

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February 20, 2013 Bible Study — The Kingdom of God Is Like a Growing Seed

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February 19, 2013 Bible Study — The Wicked Borrow and Never Repay

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February 18, 2013 Bible Study — Patiently Wait For God

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